Kiwi Film Review: 12 Angry Men

IMDB: 8.9/10
IMDB Top 250:  #6
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%


Release Date: April 1957

Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam
Written By: Reginald Rose
Directed By: Sidney Lumet


Described by IMDB as "The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. Based on the play, all of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room."


This entire film takes place in one room, which is very different as far as I can tell. There are only maybe, 15 people in the whole film, so its pretty impressive that it remains interesting throughout the whole film. The entire movie rests on the story, and the acting. No action scenes, no love story, nothing that today's films rely on. I also really liked that even though they could have filmed in colour by that time, they didn't even need to rely on that.. just the story. It was nominated at the 1958 Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Picture, and best writing.


This film is about a young man who's too poor to hire a decent lawyer and has to rely on a single man (Henry Fonda) to convince them otherwise. It was so interesting to hear civilians tear the stories apart when a lawyer couldn't. I absolutely loved the part where they're arguing about the knife and and he slams his own knife that looks exactly the same into the table. At that point I knew for sure that he was was going to change everyone's minds. I just can't get over just how brilliantly they kept this film going. The thought that I could sit through an hour and a half of watching 12 men argue with each other in one room is amazing, but I just wanted to hear more each time. It wouldn't have been the same even if it had been in a courtroom, just the fact that regular people could tear this trial apart.


I'm going to give this film an 8/10. Its #6 for a reason! Follow @gilldawe